Kiev will not let 3 mln Ukrainians living in Russia to vote there

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry recommended Ukrainians living on Russian territory — there are about 3 million of them, according to various assessments — to vote at their places of registration in their motherland.

«The Ukrainian citizens who are temporarily staying in Russia are recommended to vote at their places of registration in their motherland,» the ministry said in response to an information request from the Ukrainian National News agency.

The Foreign Ministry explained the recommendation by security concerns. In light of this, the ministry reiterated that all five foreign voting stations that had been established on a permanent basis in Russia were closed earlier «to provide security.» In particular, there will be no foreign voting stations in the Ukrainian Embassy in Russia (Moscow), Consulate General in Rostov-on-Don, Consulate General in St. Petersburg, Consulate in Yekaterinburg and the Consulate in Novosibirsk.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) also extended the borders of three voting stations in Georgia, Kazakhstan and Finland. The voting stations that were closed in Russia joined these three ones. Thus, Ukrainians living in Russia will be able to vote either in their motherland or in Ukrainian embassies in Tbilisi (Georgia), Astana (Kazakhstan), and Helsinki (Finland).